The Walking Dead: 5 things we want from season 5

The Walking Dead has departed our screens for another seven months - the zombie hit offered up what Digital Spy labelled "a stirring season ender" on Sunday night (March 30), bringing its fourth run to a close.

Audience numbers for the cable series continue to be stellar - both October's premiere and the weekend's finale broke ratings records - but on a creative level, it's been a rocky year.

DS readers, like critics, have been split - for every user arguing that the show had grown "tedious", there was another claiming that The Walking Dead was still growing "stronger week-by-week".

Showrunner Scott Gimple's desire to shake up the format of a show fast becoming a cable veteran was admirable, but it was a venture that has resulted in as many failures as successes.

Season four was in no way an outright failure but it was frustratingly inconsistent, offering up only fleeting bursts of the show's trademark brutal brilliance.

The Walking Dead used to be the best show on television - it remains terrific entertainment, but that lofty title has eluded it of late.

Here's five things the Week in Geek wants from season five - what The Walking Dead needs to do if it wants to fire on all cylinders again. See more